24-year-old Derby woman arrested after fatal hit-and-run accident in south Wichita

A 24-year-old Derby woman involved in a fatal hit-and run accident Thursday night in south Wichita was arrested after police found the vehicle she was driving at Walmart in Derby, according to Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Branden Stitt.

Panagiotis Manolopoulos, 75, of Wichita died at a hospital after being ejected from his car and than “struck by his own car,” Stitt said.

The Derby woman, who had her 5-year-old child in the car, was driving a red Dodge Nitro SUV south on Clifton and “failed to yield to an eastbound Ford Fiesta” driven by Manolopoulos, Stitt said.

The vehicles collided in the intersection at 5:07 p.m.

“The driver of the Nitro fled the scene following the collision,” Stitt said.

He added: “Thanks to witness reports and information provided to 911 dispatchers, deputies utilized the Flock license plate reader system to locate the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of the Walmart in Derby. With assistance from the Derby Police Department, the driver ... was found at a nearby Derby residence.”

The woman and her child were not injured, Stitt said.

She was booked into Sedgwick County Jail at 9:55 p.m. on suspicion of failing to stop at an accident, records show. She was also arrested in November on suspicion of drug-related charges and not having insurance and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, jail records show.

This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM.